Having secured funding of around $400 million (Sh 40 billion/ JYR 45.7 billion) from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), KenGen is set to break ground on the development of two 70 MW units for its Olkaria V geothermal power plant project.

KenGen reports having already completed drilling and that electricity from the plants could be fed into the national grid as early as the end of 2018.

The first plant is expected to start operation within the next 24 months, with the second to start around 6 months after that.

KenGen is funding parts of the project using the companys cash reserves. The overall investment for the 140 MW Olkaria V development is expected to be around $555 million (Sh 55.5 billion), according to a statement by the Managing Director of KenGen, Albert Mugo at a recent shareholder meeting in Nairobi. The project is funded by multilateral lenders, including the European Investment Bank, JICA and KfW to the tune of around $314 million.

Tender documents are ready, according to Mr. Mugo, but it is not clear yet when the tender will be launched.